Drafting apparatus for textile fibres



Sept. 13, 1955 J. NOGUERA DRAFTING APPARATUS FOR TEXTILE FIBRES Filed April 5, 1954 United States Patent DRAFTING APPARATUS FOR TEXTILE FIBRES Joseph Noguera, Manchester, England, assignor to Casablancas High Draft Company Limited, Manchester, England, a British company Application April 5, 1954, Serial No. 421,068

Claims priority, application Great Britain April 17, 1953 Claims. (Cl. 19-131) This invention relates to textile fibre drafting apparatus of the type employing one or more endless belt loops to guide and control the fibres during their passage through consecutive pairs of drafting rollers, and is concerned with improvements in the construction of such apparatus.

Accordingly the invention provides in or for a drafting apparatus of the type specified, lateral guide means consisting of an elongated bottom cradle with spaced side walls shaped to seat on the bottom roller of an intermediate roller pair and adapted to releasably to support therebetween the front ends of two separate top cradles having spaced side walls, said top cradles being shaped to seat respectively on the top rollers of said intermediate and the preceding roller pairs. The intermediate and preceding top rollers will normally each support the rear end of an endless belt loop, the forward ends of these loops being supported and guided by transverse tensor members carried at the forward ends of the respective top cradles. For co-operation with the endless belt loop on the intermediate top roller, the intermediate bottom roller may support the rear end of a further endless belt loop, the front end of this bottom belt loop being guided and supported by a transverse tensor member carried at the forward end of the bottom cradle and, for co-operation with the endless belt loop on the preceding top roller, a transverse plate or platform may be carried at the rear end of the bottom cradle.

In order that the invention may be clearly understood and readily carried into effect, two embodiments thereof will now be indicated in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings in which,

Figure 1 is a part sectional side elevation showing one embodiment of the invention, and

Figure 2 is a similar view of a second embodiment.

In each of the figures of the drawings, parts of the apparatus which have no bearing on the invention have been omitted for purposes of clarity.

Referring now to Figure l', the drafting apparatus illustrated has a front pair of drafting rollers 1, 2 an intermediate pair of drafting rollers 3, 4 and a preceding or rear pair of drafting rollers 5, 6. The rollers 3, 4 of the intermediate roller pair are arranged respectively to support the rear ends of a pair of co-operating belt loops 7 the forward ends of these belt loops being supported and guided, in known manner, respectively by tensor members 8, 9 the arrangement providing co-operating upper and lower belt runs.

The belt loops are laterally guided by means of a top cradle 10 and a separate bottom cradle 11 each of these cradles being composed of substantially parallel side walls which are coupled, in the case of the top cradle 10, by the tensor member 8 which is in the form of a transverse block and, in the case of the bottom cradle 11, by a transverse member 12.

The tensor member 9 supporting the forward end of the lower belt loop is conveniently supported as shown in aligned notches 13 which open into the front edges of the side walls of the lower cradle 11 and incline downwardly towards the rear of the lower cradle. s

The bottom edges of the lower cradle side walls are provided with downwardly directed notches 14 whereby this lower cradle seats upon the necks 4a of the bottom intermediate roller 4. At their upper front corners the lower cradle side walls are each provided with an upwardly and rearwardly extending hook portion 11a which merges into the upper edge of the associated cradle wall to provide an inclined guide path into the hook, the pur-- pose of which will later become clear. Behind the inclined guide paths, the upper edges of the lower cradle walls are provided with upwardly directed notches 15 to receive the necks 3a of the top intermediate roller 3, The upper cradle 10 and associated upper belt .loop are narrower than the lower cradle 11 and associated lower belt loop so that the upper cradle can be arranged to lie partially between the upper edges of the lower cradle side walls. The lower edges of the upper cradle side Walls, towards the rear of the latter, have downwardly directed notches 16 whereby this upper cradle 10 seats on the roller necks 3a of the top intermediate roller. .At the forward end of the upper cradle it), each side wall is provided with a laterally projecting pin 17 which is arranged to engage in the hook portion 11a of the upper leading corner of the adjacent lower cradle side wall whereby the lower cradle provides a releasable support for the front end of the top cradle 10. The aforesaid inclined guide paths in the upper edges of the bottom cradle walls serve to facilitate engagement of the pins 17 with the corresponding lower cradle hook portions 110. The apparatus is also provided with a further endless belt loop 7a which has the rear end supported by the top roller 5 of the roller pair 5, 6 immediately preceding said intermediate rollers 3, 4 in the system. This further belt loop 7a is conveniently also guided and supported, at the front end, by a further top cradle 10, and trans-' verse tensor block 8 which may be substantially identical with the top cradle and associated tensor already described. In the case of the preceding top cradle 10, however, the downwardly directed notches 16 in the cradle side walls will, of course, seat upon the necks 5a of the preceding top roller 5; To support the forward end of the preceding top cradle in the operative position, the side walls of the bottom cradle 11 are rearwardly extended at 11b behind the intermediate rollers 3, 4. In each of the upper edges of these rearward extensions there is' provided a rearwardly directed hook portion whichagain merges into the upper edge of the associated exterision to provide an inclined guide path. These paths facilitate engagement of the lateral pins 17 on the preceding top cradle with the associated hook portions 110 of the bottom cradle extensions.

To co-operate with the operative run of the further or rear upper endless belt loop 7 there is provided a transverse plate or platform 18 which, as a matter of convenience, may be supported between the rearward extensions of the bottom cradle side walls. In some cases however, it may be more-convenient to support the plate or platform by some means other than the bottom cradle.

With the arrangement as described, it will be appreciated that provision can readily be made for both the intermediate and preceding top rollers, with their associated cradles and belt loops, to be lifted away from their co-operating bottom rollers for cleaning and other purposes. When the top cradles have been thus removed, the tendency for the front end of the bottom cradle 11 to swing about the necks 4a of the bottom intermediate roller is counteracted by means of downward extensions 11d on the bottom cradle side walls which are arranged to contact the periphery of a large under-clearer 19 located immediately beneath the bottom rollers of the intermediate and preceding roller pairs. The arrangement and shaping of the bottom cradle downward extensions 11d is such that the rear edges of the latter will be just clear of the under-clearer periphery when the apparatus is operatively assembled as shown.

The embodiment illustrated in Figure 2 is similar to the embodiment shown in Figure 1 except that modified means are provided for controlling the downward swing of the front end of the bottom cradle 11 on removal of the top cradles 10. This modified means is constituted by downward projections lie on the rearward extensions of the lower cradle side walls which are arranged to abut against a fixed bar 20, permitting only a very limited downward swing of the cradle 11. This bar is conveniently positioned between the bottom rollers of the intermediate and preceding roller pairs and may run the whole length of a machine.

It will be appreciated that the apparatus as described can readily be adapted for use with the well known top arm weighting devices, the releasable couplings between the front ends of the two upper cradles 10 and the lower cradle 11 permitting the upper cradles, with the top rollers 3, 5 of the intermediate and preceding roller pairs and associated belt loops 7, 7a to be lifted clear of the apparatus merely by raising the arm, and similarly to be reengaged from a roughly orientated disengaged position merely by lowering the arm. With such an arrangement the top rollers will normally be constituted by bosses forming part of a common top roller for two adjoining drafting units in the apparatus, corresponding bosses being separated by a relatively rotatable roller neck which is gripped by the weighting and carrying arm in well known manner.

The automatic release of the couplings: from the operative position, when the arm is lifted, is due to the fact that the rear upper cradle ends engaging the respective top rollers will initially lift with the arm causing the upper cradles to swing into a position in which the upper cradle pins 17 can be freely withdrawn from the lower cradle hooks 11a, 110 by the continued raising of the arm. Conversely, on final lowering of the arm, the upper cradle pins 17 will be guided into their hooks by the aforesaid guide paths. When the arm is raised, provision should also be made for maintaining the upper cradles in a roughly oriented position for re-engagement, this being effected, for example, by spring clips on the arm which grip the roller necks and resist rotation thereof, together with inter-engaging flats on the upper cradles and roller necks which prevent rotation of the upper cradles in relation to the said necks. Alternatively, appropriate abutments may be provided on the upper cradles for engaging the arm, or vice versa.

I claim:

1. A belt guide cradle assembly for a drafting apparatus having at least two consecutive pairs of superposed provided respectively on the forward ends of the side walls of the upper cradles and on the upper edges of said lower cradle side walls whereby the cradles of the assembly can be releasably interlocked in an operative position.

2. A belt guide cradle assembly as claimed in claim 1 in which the cradles each have a transverse belt supporting tensor member extending between the side walls thereof, the spacing between said upper cradle side walls being less than between said lower cradle side walls to permit operative location of said upper cradles partially between said lower cradle side walls.

3. A belt guide cradle assembly as claimed in claim 2 further including platform means supported between rearward co-planar extension parts of said lower cradle side walls for co-operation with the upper endless belt carried by said rear upper roller.

4. In a drafting apparatus of the kind having at least two consecutive pairs of superposed rollers with cooperating upper and lower belt loops carried by the front roller pair and a further upper belt loop carried by the top roller of the rear roller pair for co-operation with a lower transverse platform, a belt loop guide cradle assembly comprising a lower cradle having side walls downwardly recessed to seat on the bottom front roller and rearwardly extended to carry said platform means, two separate upper cradles arranged in tandem relationship and having side walls downwardly recessed to seat respectively on said front and rear top rollers, laterally projecting male coupling means on the forward ends of said upper cradles, rearwardly opening co-operating female coupling means on the upper edges of said lower cradle side walls adapted automatically to receive and release said male means as a result of lowering and raising said top rollers, together with the supported upper cradles, towards and away from the drafting field, and means for limiting downward swing of said bottom cradle when said top rollers are in the raised position.

5. In a drafting apparatus of the kind having at least two consecutive pairs of superposed rollers with cooperating upper and lower belt loops carried by the front roller pair and a further upper belt loop carried by the top roller of the rear roller pair for co-operation with a lower transverse platform, a belt loop guide cradle assembly comprising a lower cradle having side walls recessed to seat on the bottom roller of, one of said pairs of rollers, two separate unconnected upper cradles having side walls recessed to seat respectively on the front and rear top rollers, and interengaging means provided respectively on the side walls of the upper cradles and on the lower cradle side walls whereby the upper cradles of the assembly can be releasably interlocked a, with the lower cradle in an operative position.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,240,670 Casablancas Sept. 18, 1917 2,160,545 Honda May 30, 1939 2,206,432 Schofield July 2, 1940 2,532,275 Whittaker Nov. 28, 1950 FOREIGN PATENTS 702,404 Great Britain Jan. 13, 1954 

